Page 81 of Wicked Bonds

He was still his progeny. That made him family.

Except betrayal… betrayal destroyed everything. Even blood.

Still, he wanted to understand how much Osiris knew and why Osiris had lifted the compulsion now.

“Start from the beginning,” he said. “And don’t leave out a single detail.”

Chapter15

Leela

Mmm,bliss.So. Beautiful. Bliss.

Leela ran her fingers through the hot water of the bath Balthazar had poured for her, indulging in the minty fresh scents and relaxing salts.

She’d been in here for at least an hour while he worked on dinner downstairs.

This was an experience she could certainly repeat over and over again.

Too bad the lingering threat of tracking Seraphim hung over their heads. But Balthazar’s attentions had calmed her mind enough for her to live in the moment and enjoy—a gift she would need to repay at some point.

Perhaps she would crawl after all.

He’d earned it.

And she really did feel bad about having his memories erased.

Of course, she didn’t mind having to re-create those memories now.

Her lips curled as she considered all the sensual reenactments they could indulge in during this chase around the globe. They played out in her mind, some of them based on what had happened in Brazil, others crafted from her own fantasies.

They all felt so real.

So enticing and fresh.

It was almost difficult to decipher reality from fiction, her mind having drawn up several intricately intimate situations that certainly seemed factual.

Maybe in another life she’d done those things with him.

Who knew anymore?

She sank down beneath the water and blew out a breath, content and alive. Then she misted herself to the rug beside the tub and grabbed a towel. Her skin was beginning to prune, suggesting she’d been in the bath too long.

And the scents wafting up from downstairs were beginning to make her stomach growl. It’d been a day since her last meal. Maybe more. It was hard to say with the various time zones.

She dried herself off, then found the clothes Balthazar had set out for her—another button-down shirt and a pair of his boxers. He’d also found her a brush and a few other hygienic items. She used them, brushed her teeth, dressed, and misted down to the living room instead of taking the stairs.

“…confessed to Issac,” a deep voice was saying in the kitchen.

Luc, Leela recognized.

“He’s been helping Osiris for decades,” he continued. “Says he was ensuring technology didn’t out our connections to the wrong people and that Osiris put him up to it.”

Leela walked around the corner into the dining area to find Balthazar shirtless by the stove. He glanced at her and then back to the speaker in the wall.

“What else did he put him up to?” Balthazar asked, his tone and expression giving nothing away.

“Not much else. According to Mateo, Osiris occasionally requested an update, but it wasn’t often. And Mateo never gave him information unless directly requested. He says he never told him about Stas, or Issac’s relationship with her.”